HARTFORD >> Barbara Henry, the first selectman of Roxbury, and until last month president of the Council of Small Towns [COST], joined state Rep. Craig Miner (R-Litchfield) at the Capitol today to support a measure that would save small towns money while increasing public safety through the ability to share resident state troopers.

H.B. 5751, An Act Concerning Resident State Troopers, was introduced by Miner, the Assistant Republican House Leader. He is hoping that towns within his 66th District -- Bethlehem, Litchfield, Morris, Warren and Woodbury -- could use the cost-effective measure of sharing a trooper as a way to better ensure school safety.

Currently, resident state troopers are assigned to, and paid by, one town, which they patrol exclusively. By allowing the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to permit the sharing of these officers, the towns that are unable to fully fund a trooper would be able to share one with neighboring communities.

Henry said she would like to see Roxbury share an officer with neighboring Bridgewater, for example.

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"Why can't we?" Henry rhetorically asked in a conversation today with The Litchfield County Times. "You have to give municipalities more flexibility, and [with Bridgewater] we already share so many things."

Roxbury and Bridgewater make up two-thirds of the Region 12 School District. But the two towns in question are more tightly interlocked than they are with the third Region 12 party, Washington, as their respective primary schools share one floating principal.

Roxbury and Bridgewater's combined population is about 4,200, and total area about 43 square miles. Ms. Henry cited the single town of Montville as comparable in size but with even more residents, yet it is served by just one resident state trooper.

In other words it can be done. If the two towns did combine for one officer they could also share their constables, five in all, and "cut our state trooper bill in half but allow more for more overtime," she said.

Currently, the price per state trooper checks in at more than $100,000.

"Regionalization is nothing new. It saves municipalities money, and the governor and other leaders have pushed regionalization," said Miner, a ranking member on the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee. "But this year, something has changed -- and that's the incident at Sandy Hook. Whether it is school safety or public safety around town, shared police services would benefit smaller towns who don't usually maintain their own police department."

On Thursday, it was the Public Safety and Security Committee that heard the testimony of Ms. Henry and Mr. Miner.